Board or flat for egg-case fillers



G. W. SWIFT, JR- DIVIDING BOARD QR FLAT FOR EGG CASE FILLERS.APPLICATION FILED NOV-21.1918.

' 1,302,992, Patented May 6, 1919...

2 SHEETS-SHEET x.

' UNITED I STATES PATENT 0FFICE.

- enonen w. SWIFT, .13., or .BORDENTCWN; new JERSEY.

DI'VDI'NG BOARD 03 To all whomv'tmay. concern:

Beitv known that I, GEORGE W. Swm'r, J r., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residingat Bordentown, in the county of Burlington and: State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDividing Boards: or Flats for Egg-Case Fillers, of which the followingis a full and clear specification;

Eggs are-packed for shipment in crates or cases in which the fillers forseparating and supporting the eggs'are in the form of cell sections madeup of interlocking strips and dividing boards or flats separating thecell sections.

The present invention relates to the form of dividing board or flatwhich engages the side walls oi the individual cells of a cell sectionto support them against lateral collapse within the crate or case, andhas forits object the production of a dividing board or flat which willbe economical to manufactors and more practical in use than thoseheretofore produced' :To this end he present invention comprises adividing board or flat formed in both its upper and lower faces withintersecting grooves or recesses which are d1s-- posed in approximatelythe same a r, relation as the intersecting walls of the cell sections toform seats for the engagement of the cell walls to hold them accuratelyagainst displacement all directions Each dividing board or flat has suchrecessed or grooved seats in both faces so that the upper edges of thecell walls of one cell section wil face ozfi a flat while the loweredges of the cell walls of the next adjacent cell section above willengage in the groove seats of the upper surfaceof the same flat. Eachcell section will be firmly held above and below between two dividingboards which fit snuglv in the crate or case so'that each individual eggcell is held against collapse in every direction. The improvedconstruction is such that the boards can be substituted for old forms offiats and be utilized by the packers inconiunction with the crates andcell sections as now manufactured. In arranging the dividing boards orflats with the groove seats in opposite faces, 1t 1s pre ferred, in theinterest of strength to groove engage in the groove seats in the lower 7FLAT FOB; EGG-CASE ITLLERS.

or recess the opposite faces of the boards in diderent planes so thatthe. grooves in one the will not be in the same planes with thecorresponding grooves in. the other face of the board or flat.

The improved dividing board or flat is Specification of Letters Patent.Pathted 6, 1919,

Application filed November 21, 1918; Serial in. 263,517.

those seat grooves extending at an angle wouldt'he cut-or embossedtransversely of the corrugations. In orderthat the invention may befully understoodit will first be described with reference to theaccompanyingdrawings and afterward pointed out more particularly in theannexed claims.

In said drawings, 1

Figure 1 is a partial vertical sectional view of an egg case and fillersincluding the improved dividing boards or flats of the presentinvention;

Fig. 2is a 'detai of one of the boards or flats;--

plan'view of a portion Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same;

Fig. 4 is: a detail of the same; r.

Fig.- 5 is a detail perspective view of a modified form of dividingboard;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation illustrating the cooperation ofthe form of Fig. 5 with the cell sections;

Fig.7 is a detail plan view of a further modification; and.

Figs. 8 and 9 are detall edge views of the same, taken at right anglesto each ther; V

Fig. 10 is a detail plan view of a further modification; and

Fig. 11 is a detail edge View of the same.

The present invention relates solelyto the structure of the dividingboards or flats which are employed to separate the cell sections in e gcase tillers.-v The improved sectional view of part use as apart of thefiller for any ordinary egg case or crate and for use in conjunctionwith any of the ordiiary forms of cell sections.

In Fig. 1 is shown a sectional view of part of an egg crate or caseindicated at 1 inwhich has been packed several layers of egg cellsections indicated at 2 and intervening dividing boards or flats of theform covered by the present invention.

The filler egg cell sections are, as is well understood in this art,formed of intersecting and interlocked strips of strawboard or suitablepaper, such sections when opened out for use to receive eggs presentingan approximately rectangular cellular structure of a large number ofrectangular cells of the proper size to receive eggs. These egg cellsections are usually made of very light material, so that difliculty isfrequently experienced by the collapsing of the cell sections within thecrate in cases when the crate has been subjected to sudden and unusualshocks. To overcome this danger it has heretofore been proposed to formdividing boards or flats with means for engaging parts of the cellsections to resist lateral movement. Such means as heretofore suggestedfor this purpose have proven unsatisfactory either because they were tooexpensive to produce or incapab e of accomplishing the desired purpose.

The preferred form of the improved dividing board or flat is illustratedin Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.- of the" drawings, in which a sheet of strawboard or suitable aper stock 5 is formed in one face with intersectingseries of parallel grooves 6 and 7 extending at right angles to eachother. The grooves of each series are spaced apart to correspond withthe widths of the individual cells of the filler cell sections. Theopposite face of the sheet 5 is similarl formed with intersecting seriesof para lel grooves 8 and 9 bearing the same relation to each other asthe series of grooves 6 and 7 just referred to. It will be observed thatthe grooves 6- in one face of the sheet 5 are parallel with but in adifferent vertical plane with thegrooves 8 in the opposlte face of thesheet, a

and similarly the transverse grooves 7 in one face are in difi'erentplanes from the transverse grooves 9 in the opposite face.

The form shown in Figs. 1 to a of the drawings is the mosteconomicalform for manufacture because-it can be produced by a simple rollin orem'bossin operation. The two series 0% grooves exten ing parallel uponopposite faces of the sheet can be formed by a single operation inpassing through grooving rollers, it being preferable at this firstoperation to cut out clrcular or oval portions of the'stock at thepoints of ecaeea intersection of the grooves thatwill extendtransversely of the initial grooves so as to prevent puckering of thestock atsuch 1ntersections. Such cut outs are indicated at I 10. Thesecond set of transverse grooves are formed by passing the sheet througha to its first grooving operation to form the and 9 in the oppositefaces I parallel dividing boards or flats, the lower Y edges of the cellwalls resting in the upper seats of a lower board or fiat, while theupper edges rest in the lower groove seats of an upper dividing board orflat. These dividing-boards or flats form simple divisions be tweenadjacent cell sections, each fiat having complete groove seats initslower face for the upper walls of one section and in its upper face forthe lower walls of an upper cell section. Since the dividing walls orflats accurately fit within the crate or case 1- and are prevented fromlateral movement and efiectively engage all of the cell walls of thecell sections it will be observed that every individual cell ispositively and efiectively held against displacement within the crate orcase. In addition to this centering and supporting of the cells, thedividing boards or flats present cushioning walls or platforms indicatedat 11 with which the ends of the eggs en gage when confined in theirindividual cells. In this manner each individual egg is perfectlysupported against shock and all danin which the board is made of heavystock 15 with the intersecting series of grooves 16 and 17 on one faceand 18 and 19 on the opposite face which cut into the surfaces of theboard. These grooves are formed in different vertical planes uponopposite'sides of the board in the interest of strength. In Fig. 6 thisform of dividing board or flat is illustrated in conjunction with thecell sections.

In Figs. 7 8 and 9 I show a further modification in which the stockemployed in the manufacture of the dividing boards or flats is multi-plystraw board having corrugated opposite faces. This oppositely corrugatedstraw board 25 has parallel grooves or channels 26 and 27 cut throughthe corrugations or ribs of the opposite faces. In theform shown thegrooves 26 in one faceare in the same plane as the grooves 27 in theopposite face but these grooves upon opposite faces can be formed indifferent vertical lanes as in the preferred form above descri d, if

.70 second set of grooving rollers at right angles" desired. In thisform of dividing board or filler the grooves or recesses between thecrowns of the corrugations of the stock as indicated at 28 and 29, areemployed as the groove seats extending at right angles to the grooves orchannels 26 or 27 it being understood that the difference in depth ofthe grooves 26, 27, as compared with those 28 and 29 is only thethickness of the paper stock employed in the corrugated outer ply of thestock 25.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I show a further corrugated form of dividing board orfiller in which the groove seats extending at right angles to thechannels of the corrugated stock are formed by an embossing orimpressing operation. In this form the oppo sitely. corrugated stock 30is formed with channels or depressions 31 in one face and similarchannels or depressions 32 in the opposite face.

The forms shown in Figs. 7 to 11 are employed in the same manner as thepreferred form above described.

The improved dividing board or fiat is of simple construction and easyto manufacture. This economy is due notonly to the slight cost ofmanufacture but to the fact that it can be substituted for any of thedividing boards or fiats'now in use, so that the packers can utilizetheir crates and cell sections now in stock without modification.

I claim:

1. A dividing board or flat for egg case fillers having formed in eachof its opposite faces angularly disposed grooved or recessed ingintersecting grooves embossed in its opposite faces to form seats forthe walls of filler cell sections, the adjacent parallel grooves ofopposite faces being indifierent vertical planes.

4. The 'combination with two filler cell sections, with a singledividing board or flat arranged between said cell sections and formedwith angularly disposed seats in each of its opposite faces adapted toengage both sets of angular walls of both cell sections.

GEORGE w. SWIFT, JR.

